Remembering Xolani

I was in South Africa for a few weeks earlier this year, in the context of the Jabulani project, and visited Zwelibanzi High School during that time. Through some happy coincidence we ran into Xolani. I had already met Xolani’s older brothers, Vusi and Emmanuel, at that point, and what struck me first about Xolani was that same beautiful Makhathini smile. He was courteous and friendly, but he also seemed to be a serious boy in his own way. Meeting him warmed my heart.

There are people we meet and forget, but Xolani has stayed vivid in my memory. Like many friends of the Makhathini family, in South Africa and in Scotland, I feel bereft that his life was cut so short, so unexpectedly.

The things that cut us most deeply are often the things we don’t understand. But here is what we do know: that Xolani was very much loved by his parents and family, that he had two wonderful big brothers and that he grew up in a community that cared for him. The value of a life is not determined by its length. Xolani was, in the first and last instance, a child of God. We will continue to remember him.

Mimo Caenepeel